The Sengwer community has threatened to petition the UN to compel the government to stop an operation against bandits in Embobut Forest.
In a strongly worded statement, the community said the operation has resulted in the forceful eviction of the indigenous community, under the guise of a war on armed bandits.
The statement read by community youth leader Philemon Cheptorus said the people will seek intervention by the UN’s special rapporteur on indigenous people, the KNCHR, the NCHRD and Amnesty International if the operation is not stopped.
Cheptorus further said the operation is taking place in glades occupied by Sengwer groups including the Kapkok, Chepkundul, Kaptirbai, and Koropkwen.
He also accused police of slaughtering three sheep belonging to two Sengwer herders.
“We are calling for the operation to stop with immediate effect. We will call for peaceful demonstrations to advocate for our rights if the government fails to act,” he said on Monday.
Spokesman Paul Kiptuka claimed that the over 500 police officers conducting the operation are also forcefully taking their animals.
“They have confiscated livestock and slaughtered some of them while executing the worst violation of human rights,” he alleged.
In her appeal against the exercise, Sengwer women leader Mary Komen said women and children had been sleeping in the cold for fear of harassment by security forces.
Embobut MCA Paul Kipyatich told security agencies to conduct the operation in a humane manner and compensate herders who have lost their animals.
But Marakwet East deputy county commissioner Stephen Sangolo dismissed the claims, saying police were not targeting the community. He
declined to comment on the accusations of livestock theft.
KFS North Rift commandant Daniel Rono said the service received an intelligence report saying the Sengwer were arming themselves to fight security agencies.
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